ADAG ramps up money transfer biz

MUMBAI: In an effort to scale up its presence in money transfer business, the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) has amalgamated Wall Street Construction, the parent company of Wall Street Finance, with Reliance Money Express, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Capital.

Wall Street Finance is a financial services company with foreign exchange and money remittance as its core activities. The company���s range of services include buying and selling foreign currencies and traveller���s cheques. Wall Street Construction holds a 33.55% stake in Wall Street Finance and after the amalgamation, Reliance Money Express will have a controlling stake in Wall Street Finance.

The deal is expected to strengthen the ADAG���s presence in money changing services and full-fledged money transfer business. ���Reliance Money Express has been doing money transfer business for a long time as a principal agent of Western Union with all regulatory approvals. We are one of the leading players in this space and after the deal, ADAG will continue to have majority stake in the merged entity,��� said Sudip Banyopadhyay, Director & CEO, Reliance Money.

The amalgamation petition was admitted in the Bombay High Court on 22 August and the matter is due for hearing on 26 September according to a public notice in a leading financial daily. When asked about the financial details of the deal, Banyopadhyay was tight-lipped. ���Due to a confidentiality clause, the deal consideration cannot be disclosed at this stage. But it is insignificant in the context of the Reliance ADA Group,��� he added. The promoters of Wall Street Finance could not be reached for comment.

In November 2006, Reliance Capital had acquired Travelmate Services, a part of Kuoni Group, and rechristened it to Reliance Money Express. After unveiling the new subsidiary of Reliance Capital, the management had expressed the plans of forging alliances with various corporate houses and travel firms to take on the established players in this field.

Reliance Capital has a market capitalisation of over Rs 2,90,000 crore and the company sees a value in the business with India being the largest recipient of global remittance. ���India is the largest recipient of global remittance of around $ 27 billion which is more than 10 percent of the total global remittance inflow of $ 240 billion. This is continuously rising due to labour migration and increasing wages,��� Banyopadhyay had told the media after unveiling Reliance Money Express.

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